RIO DE JANEIRO -- Virginia Thrasher went through a three-week spring whirlwind, winning three NCAA titles and a spot on the U.S. Olympic Shooting team.The precocious 19-year-old closed out the summer with her biggest surprise yet.Keeping her nerve on sports biggest stage, Thrasher on Saturday earned the first gold medal of the Rio Olympics, outlasting two-time gold medalist Du Li to capture the womens 10-meter air rifle title.This is beyond my wildest dreams, Thrasher said. I knew it was a realistic expectation for me to get into the finals and once you get into the finals, anything can happen. For me, this year has been incredible.Thrasher had a quick rise to the top.A figure skater growing up, she switched sports five years ago after a hunting trip with her family. Thrasher killed a deer with her first shot of her first hunting trip and has continued to hit the mark wherever shes gone.Thrasher was not expected to be among the top five scorers -- all that counts in NCAA competition -- at shooting powerhouse West Virginia, yet got better as the season progressed. She became the first freshman to win both NCAA rifle titles and led the Mountaineers to the team championship.Less than a month later, Thrasher won the U.S. Olympic Trials, earning a spot in Rio.She didnt flinch at the sports brightest spotlight -- or an air horn.Though not expected to be a medal contender, Thrasher finished a spot behind fellow American Sarah Scherer at sixth in qualifying to make the eight-person final.She opened the elimination finals -- a new format in this years Olympics -- with a perfect 10.9 and was in the lead after Scherer became the first shooter knocked out.Thrasher stayed in the top spot as her competitors fell off, consistently hitting 10s despite a fan blowing an air horn at random times.Thrasher entered the final with a 0.7-point lead and opened with a solid 10.5, which Li matched. Thrasher smiled after a 10.4 left a slight opening, but Lis 10.1 on her final shot sent Thrasher on a surprising trip to the podium.In the finals, about halfway through, it kind of became clear to me that I was in contention for a medal, Thrasher said. But I quickly pushed that thought away and focused on breathing, just taking one shot at a time.Thrasher pulled it off against two of the worlds best rifle shooters, Li and Yi Siling.Li won gold medals in air rifle in 2004 at the Athens Games and in 3-position rifle in Beijing four years later. She also competed in the 2012 London Games and pulled off a clutch shot in the Rio final, hitting 10.9 to stay alive in the second round.Yi took a similar path as Thrashers, earning air rifle gold at the 2012 London Games just three years after starting her international shooting career.Thrasher stood her ground against the two Chinese shooters in the medal eliminations, hitting nothing lower than 10.4. Yi went out after a 9.8 on her final shot to earn bronze and Thrasher finished with a cumulative score of 208.0 to beat Li by a point in front of a rowdy crowd.I heard the cheers and the horns and it was very disturbing, Yi said. But I just had to control myself. I also looked up and saw that Virginia and Du Li were doing well themselves.Thrasher ended up on top of the podium and her whirlwind will wind down soon; a biomedical engineering major, she starts classes again at West Virginia on Aug. 17.Im actually looking forward to getting back to school again, Thrasher said.She will have a new title when she returns: Olympic champion. www.cheapjerseysforsale.net . LOUIS -- Theres no telling how these wacky World Series games will end. cheapjerseysforsale .net . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. http://www.cheapjerseysforsale.net/ . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. www.cheapjerseys forsale .net . Coach Tom Thibodeau says the former MVP will probably start travelling with the team in the next few weeks. Rose tore the meniscus in his right knee at Portland in November and was ruled out for the remainder of the season by the Bulls. http://www.cheapjerseysforsale.net/ . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference.Andy Murray has earned his place at the top of the world rankings after hard work and big decisions, says Annabel Croft. Murray became the worlds No 1 without having to play a shot following the withdrawal of Milos Raonic in the Paris Masters semi-final on Saturday afternoon.The 29-year-old is the first British singles player to hold top spot since computerised rankings began in 1973 and will play John Isner in Sundays final, live on Sky Sports 3, after the American beat Marin Cilic. It was a feat roundly praised by the Sky Sports commentary team. Peter Fleming called it an amazing turnaround from the Briton, while Croft said: Its a culmination of a fantastic season with sheer hard work and the commitment to bring out a high level of tennis every week.He made that change in his head last summer. He had back surgery [three years ago] which was a massive decision and people were asking have we seen the best of Andy? Andy Murray trained in front of the Paris crowd after they missed out on watching his semi-final He slipped down the rankings and my goodness has he come back with a vengeance. He may well go on to dominate through 2017.Its not probably the way he wanted to do it but it shows its a lot more about the year. Andy said the other day getting to be world No 1 was not about just one match.Its the level of consistency hes put out there for the year. Many congratulations to him. Its a shame we wont see that match but what a fabulous achievement and what a fabulous day for him.Novak Djokovic, who lost to Cilic in the French capital in Fridays quarter-final, had been No 1 for 122 weeks and completed his career Grand Slam when he conquered Murray in the French Open final in June. Live ATP Masters Tennis November 6, 2016, 2:00pm Live on Get Sky Sports Get a Sky Sports pass Murray has had a stunning run, making 11 finals in his last 12 tournaments, winning 73 matches in the year.ddddddddddddHe also becomes the first player other than Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal to lead the rankings since Andy Roddick in 2004.Fleming added: Since the summer hes been virtually unbeatable and he fully deserves this ranking. Its no good though if he just stops.There have been 20 players who have been no 1 and several have only been there for a couple of weeks. The challenge is to be the year-end No 1. To do that he probably needs to win in London at the World Finals. Novak Djokovic says Andy Murray deserves to become the world No 1 But he needs a different mindset now. Hes probably still in hunter-mode through to the O2 finals because he still needs to win that or do better than Novak to become No 1 at the end of the year which is a bigger deal.Its knowing you have to maintain that incredible level every week - but hes been doing that over the last seven months.Watch the Paris Masters final Murray v Isner, live on Sky Sports 3 on Sunday from 2pm Also See: Murrays magnificent year Tennis on Sky Murray becomes world No 1 Murrays finest achievement Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jersyes Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys cheap jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '